The archaeology of the Arabian Gulf, c. 5000-323 BC

Michael Rice

The world's first great cities, built in the lands of Mesopotamia, grew rich on trade. The great rivers which flowed down into the Gulf were navigable up to Babylon and beyond, into Syria. Ships carried goods from these cities to present-day Pakistan and probably to Egypt, thousands of miles away. Dotted along the western shore of the Gulf were many small trading communities which also grew rich on international trade in the third millennium BC. On the island of Bahrain, an important city developed, the centre of the Dilmun culture. Large burial grounds were created for those who ended their days in the 'Holy Land'. Other ports also grew up in the area, where ships carried their goods to the cities of the known world. The culture of Dilmun was a culture of islands and its people were intrepid seamen and traders. The Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf provides a comprehensive,...

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